How would you rate/order each Carpenters' album?

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JuanDela

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I had the idea there already was a post like this, but I couldn't find it anywhere, so I'm gonna share my thoughts here. I'll be counting only their main albums (not including Christmas specials or compilations)

My rating would be:

1 - Horizon (9/10): Definetly their finest work. Quality improves dramatically from their previous albums. I wouldn't give the album a 10/10, mainly for some minor details, like the fuzzy guitar solo on Love Me For What I Am, or the shallow "Aaaaaahhhs" in Please Mr. Postman. Still, experimenting with different sounds (like Only Yesterday, I Can't Dream, Can't I? and Love Me For What I Am) made the album a whole lot more varied.

2 - Made In America (9/10): Pretty underrated album in my opinion. Song selection is great, and both arranging and sound quality are some of their best. I personally like that common 80s sound mix with theirs. The only issue I could possibly find here may be Karen's voice, which sounds a little weaker and more high-pitched.

3 - Now & Then (8/10): Side A is a rollercoaster of emotions (in a good way of course). Song selection is great, and the way the oldies transition is pure gold. I really like the way the album immerses you into the feel of a radio station.

4 - A Kind Of Hush (8/10): This one has a very soft sound to it. My only problem with it, is that it's a little bit too soft for my taste. It does have some of my favourites though, like I Need To Be In Love, There's A Kind Of Hush, One More Time and I Have You, which makes me put the album in this place.

5 - Passage (7/10): This is a curious one. There's a more mature sound to it, and it hits a really soft, but yet upbeat side. If I could describe it in a word, I think it would be "Parental".

6 - Carpenters (7/10): The Carpenters' sound is well defined here, and, overall, it's a good album. Karen's deep voice shines spectacularly here. Still, Richard's arrangements and instrumentation were to improve.

7 - A Song For You (7/10): Songwriting definitely improves here. To me there's nothing wrong with this one, but it's not my favourite either.

8 - Voice Of The Heart (6/10): A rather sad and empty album to me, especially knowing it holds Karen's last recording. Of course, some of the backing vocals weren't recorded, and it feels like both Richard and Karen are somehow missing, both in their own ways. It shares a completely different feel to the rest of their albums. Still, it's very pleasant to listen to.

9 - Lovelines (5/10): It's an OK album, but I believe that the Carpenters' sound fades out here. You can feel a bit of their original essence in You're The One, but it's still sketched differently to the rest of the albums.

10 - Close To You (4/10): Good album, but there's not much I can say from it. Aside from (They Long To Be) Close To You and We've Only Just Begun, I feel like there was a lot to improve back then.

11 - Offering/Ticket To Ride (2/10): The album's OK, but not that great. I do think the Carpenter's Ticket To Ride is very well arranged, but I still kinda prefer Lennon-McCartney's version.

So what about you? What's your rating?
 
WOW- aside from Horizon, our choices are very different.
But that's what I love about these discussions.
I've written my choices in a VERY long post you might find interesting, @JuanDela.
Go here.
 
I had the idea there already was a post like this, but I couldn't find it anywhere, so I'm gonna share my thoughts here. I'll be counting only their main albums (not including Christmas specials or compilations)

My rating would be:

1 - Horizon (9/10): Definetly their finest work. Quality improves dramatically from their previous albums. I wouldn't give the album a 10/10, mainly for some minor details, like the fuzzy guitar solo on Love Me For What I Am, or the shallow "Aaaaaahhhs" in Please Mr. Postman. Still, experimenting with different sounds (like Only Yesterday, I Can't Dream, Can't I? and Love Me For What I Am) made the album a whole lot more varied.

2 - Made In America (9/10): Pretty underrated album in my opinion. Song selection is great, and both arranging and sound quality are some of their best. I personally like that common 80s sound mix with theirs. The only issue I could possibly find here may be Karen's voice, which sounds a little weaker and more high-pitched.

3 - Now & Then (8/10): Side A is a rollercoaster of emotions (in a good way of course). Song selection is great, and the way the oldies transition is pure gold. I really like the way the album immerses you into the feel of a radio station.

4 - A Kind Of Hush (8/10): This one has a very soft sound to it. My only problem with it, is that it's a little bit too soft for my taste. It does have some of my favourites though, like I Need To Be In Love, There's A Kind Of Hush, One More Time and I Have You, which makes me put the album in this place.

5 - Passage (7/10): This is a curious one. There's a more mature sound to it, and it hits a really soft, but yet upbeat side. If I could describe it in a word, I think it would be "Parental".

6 - Carpenters (7/10): The Carpenters' sound is well defined here, and, overall, it's a good album. Karen's deep voice shines spectacularly here. Still, Richard's arrangements and instrumentation were to improve.

7 - A Song For You (7/10): Songwriting definitely improves here. To me there's nothing wrong with this one, but it's not my favourite either.

8 - Voice Of The Heart (6/10): A rather sad and empty album to me, especially knowing it holds Karen's last recording. Of course, some of the backing vocals weren't recorded, and it feels like both Richard and Karen are somehow missing, both in their own ways. It shares a completely different feel to the rest of their albums. Still, it's very pleasant to listen to.

9 - Lovelines (5/10): It's an OK album, but I believe that the Carpenters' sound fades out here. You can feel a bit of their original essence in You're The One, but it's still sketched differently to the rest of the albums.

10 - Close To You (4/10): Good album, but there's not much I can say from it. Aside from (They Long To Be) Close To You and We've Only Just Begun, I feel like there was a lot to improve back then.

11 - Offering/Ticket To Ride (2/10): The album's OK, but not that great. I do think the Carpenter's Ticket To Ride is very well arranged, but I still kinda prefer Lennon-McCartney's version.

So what about you? What's your rating?
Nice ranking. While I don't rank 'Made In America' as high as you I do agree that it is underrated, definitely deserves more love.

My ranking is probably a bit basic but here it is:

1. A Song For You - highlights: Goodbye To Love, A Song For You, Top Of The World, I Won't Last A Day Without You, Hurting Each Other, It's Going To Take Some Time and Intermission (because it shows the duo had a sense of humour)

2. Horizon - highlights: Solitaire, Only Yesterday, Please Mr. Postman, Love Me For What I Am, Happy

3. Carpenters - highlights: Superstar, Rainy Days And Mondays, Bacharach/David Medley, For All We Know, Saturday

4. Close To You - highlights: We've Only Just Begun, (They Long To Be) Close To You, I'll Never Fall In Love Again, Mr. Guder,

5. Now And Then - highlights: This Masquerade, Yesterday Once More, Johnny Angel, The End Of The World, Jambalaya (On The Bayou)

6. Made In America - highlights: Those Good Old Dreams, Touch Me When We're Dancing, Beechwood 4-5789

7. A Kind Of Hush - highlights: There's A Kind Of Hush, I Need To Be In Love

8. Ticket To Ride/Offering - highlights: Eve, Don't Be Afraid, All Of My Life, Ticket To Ride

9. Passage - highlights: All You Get From Love Is A Love Song, I Just Fall In Love Again

(I WAS LEFT UNSURE WHERE TO PLACE VOTH AND LOVELINES :))
 
WOW- aside from Horizon, our choices are very different.
But that's what I love about these discussions.
I've written my choices in a VERY long post you might find interesting, @JuanDela.
Go here.
Awesome ranking, you rank Lovelines fairly high which intrigues me because it's an album I've often overlooked. I shall give it more of a listen.
 
I've always had difficulty rating things like favorites with albums. But I have general opinions on how they would stack up as groups against each other.

I think I'd be able to lump them into two categories: The early stuff and the later stuff.

THE EARLY STUFF:
OFFERING
CLOSE TO YOU
CARPENTERS
A SONG FOR YOU
NOW & THEN

THE LATER STUFF:
HORIZON
A KIND OF HUSH
PASSAGE
MADE IN AMERICA
VOICE OF THE HEART
LOVELINES

Yep, that's strictly chronological, but that's the way I tend to view Carpenters albums. Certainly the first four albums are the tops in my book. NOW & THEN is sort of on the edge of greatness and is perhaps a changeover album. Starting with HORIZON, I found the albums less and less cohesive in terms of being something I'd want to sit down to listen to, in order, all the way through, and the started becoming more of a pick-and-choose prospect, where I'd want to play a single song on a side, or something like that. But I can still listen to those first five albums, in order, all the way through and enjoy it all.

I tend to view the two Christmas albums separately - they are just in a different world altogether.

AS TIME GOES BY is to me a catch-all of leftovers. Some great stuff, some lesser stuff.

RPO is a nice, sort-of, remix album. It's surely listenable as a standalone album, but I find it hard to pigeonhole into the main catalog.
 
I've always had difficulty rating things like favorites with albums. But I have general opinions on how they would stack up as groups against each other.

I think I'd be able to lump them into two categories: The early stuff and the later stuff.

THE EARLY STUFF:
OFFERING
CLOSE TO YOU
CARPENTERS
A SONG FOR YOU
NOW & THEN

THE LATER STUFF:
HORIZON
A KIND OF HUSH
PASSAGE
MADE IN AMERICA
VOICE OF THE HEART
LOVELINES

Yep, that's strictly chronological, but that's the way I tend to view Carpenters albums. Certainly the first four albums are the tops in my book. NOW & THEN is sort of on the edge of greatness and is perhaps a changeover album. Starting with HORIZON, I found the albums less and less cohesive in terms of being something I'd want to sit down to listen to, in order, all the way through, and the started becoming more of a pick-and-choose prospect, where I'd want to play a single song on a side, or something like that. But I can still listen to those first five albums, in order, all the way through and enjoy it all.

I tend to view the two Christmas albums separately - they are just in a different world altogether.

AS TIME GOES BY is to me a catch-all of leftovers. Some great stuff, some lesser stuff.

RPO is a nice, sort-of, remix album. It's surely listenable as a standalone album, but I find it hard to pigeonhole into the main catalog.
Makes perfect sense, Harry!

For me, the straight "listening through" ended with Horizon. There's much I love about Hush, but the last three songs on Side One just don't do it for me.

My rankings tend to change over the years. Of course, it's somewhat mood dependent as well. When I'm doing my "Revisited / Fresh Look" reviews, I must listen to each album 40 or 50 times before I'm done. So, my appreciation grows on discs I thought I knew. (Not a chore but I do get tired of one disc. For example, I haven't listened to Passage once since my review posted in March or April.)

When I listen the albums in chronological order, I'm amazed at the growth and changes in artistry. Each album feels very different than the ones before or after. And that's something I really love. The constant is Karen's voice. Unbelievable. One of a kind. And sadly missed...
 
Changes in favorites happen for me too. I've often put OFFERING on my desert island list, but that could easily change on any given day to CLOSE TO YOU or A SONG FOR YOU.
 
And by the way, @Harry, I meant to tell you when I'm doing these articles, I use the Resource to check my facts. (Chris' book, too!) Thanks for your work on that.
 
1. LOVELINES - contains 7 or 8 songs which I really like a lot, including YOU'RE THE ONE, which I've rated recently as her finest vocal effort (just a slight notch above RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS) - also included is her most underrated vocal performance, the sadly beautiful "power ballad" WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE? during which she is all over the map dynamically and in which she cruises in the verses through her "basement" in the longest string of those chilling, enthralling iconic low notes to be found anywhere in their catalog - it's a "no-brainer" that both of these could have been and should have been released as singles...in addition the album contains two other great single wanna-bees: IF WE TRY and KISS ME THE WAY YOU DID LAST NIGHT. A hodge-podge of rejects and leftovers forming collectively an outstanding whole of an album.

2. CARPENTERS

3. A SONG FOR YOU


All the others in no special order...
 
Lovelines is definitely an underrated album.

Alongside A Song For You, Lovelines ranks as my joint favourite album. The former captures their talents at the very peak of their heyday and the latter scoops up the pearls from their later years. Voice Of The Heart doesn’t come close in my book.
 
Here's my order (excluding Christmas Portrait):

  1. Horizon (the best of the best, and Postman fits in fine, for me)
  2. A Song for You (it's astounding how many hit singles are on this album, and breathtaking performances -- like "A Song for You" and "Road Ode" that weren't even singles)
  3. Close to You (gets better and better with time)
  4. Carpenters (short, but wow, what power in those songs)
  5. Now and Then (the first half is stellar, and the second memorable also for how great the covers are)
  6. A Kind of Hush (mellower than most, but with some great songs)
  7. Made in America (the comeback album isn't as good as it should've been, but still rises above some of their other albums)
  8. Offering (the inventive first album, full of energy and late 60's vibe)
  9. Passage (the inventive later album, still reflective of their decline but with some fascinating song choices)
  10. Lovelines (the better of the three posthumous collections, for including Where Do I Go from Here, If I Had You, When I Fall in Love, Kiss Me, and You're the One.)
  11. Voice of the Heart (This album has a couple of stellar moments, like Ordinary Fool, but it feels like Made in America outtakes)
  12. As Time Goes By (I love Leave Yesterday Behind and several other amazing songs, collaborations on this album, but it is clearly an album of hodgepodge pieces put together, which is why I rank it last).
 
We've done these type of threads before on the albums and it always breaks down that HORIZON is the middle ground with many picking it as the sublime best, and others like myself that view it as the beginning of the end with slow-ballad after slow ballad. With both "Desperado" and "Solitaire" on the same album, even "Postman" can't bring the album out of dirge territory. Even the bookend songs are slow, slow ballads. It's also the first to totally eliminate Richard as a lead, making it seem a lot less like a "group effort" idea that the early albums put across.

But it's recorded extremely well and Karen sounds fantastic on it, so I can understand why many choose it as best.
 
...

Re: Lovelines ... Contains two bona fide classics (Where do I go from Here?; Little Girl Blue)

Steve
Well, LOVELINES contains far more than 2 " bona fide classics", but Karen's take on the Rogers & Hart 1930s showtune LITTLE GIRL BLUE is, as usual, flawless - makes one wish for a whole album of covers of songs from that period - my only objection to it is in the recording, where there is not only reverb added to her voice (never necessary or desirable) but far too much reverb...many artists have recorded this interesting song with it's changes in keys and tempo and I first heard it on a Frank Sinatra album decades ago.
 
My order would be:

1. As Time Goes By - so much good stuff on here from Karen and Richard duetting on "You're Just In Love", with Richard making the song sound like an older brother giving his younger sister advice on why she's feeling a certain way when she's in love with someone; "California Dreaming", "The Rainbow Connection", "Dancing In The Street", "Leave Yesterday Behind", "Close Encounters/Star Wars Medley", "Dizzy Fingers" and "Nowhere Man" are all great tracks. Why "The Rainbow Connection" and "Leave Yesterday Behind" were left off the Missing In Action album in 1981 is curious, as they are better than "Those Good Old Dreams" and "Strength of A Woman". The only bad choice for a track on this album I would have to say, or at least in terms of the sequencing, is the "Medley: Superstar/Rainy Days and Mondays". Aside from the ending, both tracks sound pretty much the same as the original album versions, and even back in 2001 I didn't think that we needed these two repeats as track 2 on this album. Richard could've pulled another song, like "You'll Never Know" or "Make Me Laugh" and left this medley off. Also, this was the first and to date only Carpenters album (not counting compilations) released when I was in high school and could really listen to them. An Old-Fashioned Christmas, Time & Lovelines were released when I was extremely young, and Karen's solo and Richard's second solo were released when I was till in elementary school.

2. Passage - an experimental album, but one that gave us a great classic in All You Get From Love Is A Love Song --- a song that should've been a massive hit. Sweet, Sweet Smile is another great track from this album, and was the perfect song to open the Singles 1974-1978 album. Of course, now in 2023, this is a somewhat controversial album, with the inclusion of what some would call a song that was disrespectful of colored people in B'Wana She No Home and another song that is quite sexist, Man Smart, Woman Smarter.

3. Live In Japan - I've got to say this, but this here solely on the strength of the Oldies Medley. It's nice that there are two different versions of the Oldies Medley out there, however, I like this Medley more, as you have tracks that should've had studio versions done of them, such as "Shuboom", "Daddy's Home", "The Book of Love", "Runaway, "Leader of the Pack" and "Little Honda". Hearing "Sing" in Japanese is also interesting, although on CD the "Colonel Boogey" doesn't exactly work, since it seems that it was designed to go more with the action on stage.

4. Christmas Portrait: Special Edition - Some may wonder why I'm listing the SE version here, however, I grew up in the era when the original 1978 version was unavailable on CD, and whenever someone said "Christmas Portrait", they were referring to this album. And even now, here in North America, the original (even on iTunes and other streaming sites) is only available as part of the Christmas Collection packaging. So in 2023 (and in 2024 it'll be this album's 40th anniversary---which, from what I know, the 1978 version was out on vinyl from 1978-1990?, 8-track from 1978-1985? and cassette from 1978-1999?, whenever those formats were considered obsolete), this is THE CLASSIC CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT as it is by itself. However, you have a bunch of great Christmas classics such as "The Christmas Song", "An Old-Fashioned Christmas", "Carol of the Bells", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "Sleigh Ride".

5. Now & Then - Again, the Oldies Medley is this album's strong suit. "Deadman's Curve", "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes", "Johnny Angel" and "Our Day Will Come". It's surprising that, considering "Our Day Will Come" is a love/wedding song that it didn't make the 1997 compilation Love Songs, since I think it had been separated from the Medley by that point. Of course, "Heather", with it's mono piano, sounds the most dated in 2023.

6. Lovelines - Some of Karen's Solo tracks show up here, and it makes you wonder why her solo album was shelved in 1980. They are some of the best tracks from that era. "Lovelines" is a great dance opener, along with "Remember When Loving Took All Night" and "If I Had You"---and Richard's remix of "If I Had You" makes it even better. But then we even have some great tracks from the MIA era that, again, why they were relegated to the vault, when the majority of MIA should've been in the vault, is highly questionable. "The Uninvited Guest" is a great Halloween tune, "Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night", "Honolulu City Lights" and "Slow Dance" are all great tracks. Unfortunately, the album ends on a rather weak track in "Little Girl Blue".

Bonus: Carpenters With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - a good studio album. Even some songs that I never really enjoyed, such as "I Believe You" got some really good re-recordings here and mixes. "Baby It's You" is the stand-out song, as it seems to be built from the ground up with a different arrangement that still works with Karen's 1970 vocal, but gets rid of the datedness of the original. Also, the "Overture" sounds a lot better than anything on either of Richard's instrumental albums---more upbeat---more like a track from Richard Clayderman's Carpenters albums.

7. A Song For You - easily, a Greatest Hits package that wasn't a Greatest Hits package. Another wonderful duet between Richard and Karen on "Crystal Lullaby" makes for a stand-out track, and makes you wonder what a kids album by the Carpenters would've sounded like. "Piano Picker", "Flat Barouqe" & "A Song For You" I first heard on the 1978 Canadian The Carpenters Collection set.

8. An Old-Fashioned Christmas - doesn't flow as well as Christmas Portrait: Special Edition however, it does have some more interesting Christmas tracks on here. Of course "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" got a remix to remove the sax that sounded like it was being played by someone walking down a set of stairs, to where its now more jazzy. "Do You Hear What I Hear?" is the clear stand out track on this album, a very nice duet between Richard and Karen. "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? is also a very fun song, and the "Medley: Here Comes Santa Claus/Frosty The Snowman/Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer/Good King Wenceslas" has become a Christmas instrumental classic that I've heard on radio a lot over the years. Of course the one odd song on here is the non-seasonal "My Favorite Things" which kind of takes you out of the Christmas spirit ("Toyland" would've made more sense, plus Karen had even said in an interview that she loved Richard's reading of the song), and then of course, "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" is really missing the "bell" motif of the song in terms of the instruments, since, there are no bells on the instrumental track.

9. Offering/Ticket To Ride - the one that started it all. It would be nice if a Remastered version was issued someday, where Richard went back and remixed all the tracks to their original forms, minus all the distortion and other audio anomalies, since on the technical side, even when I listen to the UK''s late-70's pink album, these tracks sound very rough when compared to "We've Only Just Begun" and "Close To You". However, the tracks like 'Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing", "What's the Use", "All of My Life" and 'Get Together are some of the highlights of the album.

10. Karen Carpenter - Karen's Solo album, should've been released in 1980. Or it should've been cannibalized in 1981 and had some of it's tracks put on MIA. "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind" was the stand-out track that is way out of left-field for Karen, as it is a pure dance track, with pulsing drums. "Guess I Just Lost My Head", along with the three other tracks I mentioned on Lovelines are also stand-outs. It's too bad that Richard wouldn't finish "Last One Singin' The Blues" and the other solo tracks that were not released and give Karen a second solo album. Maybe he could get some newer artists to duet with Karen on those tracks.

11. Time - both Richard and Karen's first solo albums are representative of their era's that they were recorded in. Karen's the late-70's disco era; Richard the mid- to late-80's electronic era. "Say Yeah!", "Who Do You Love?" and "Remind Me To Tell You" are the stand-outs of Richard's vocal tracks, while ""That's What I Believe" with Scott Grimes is another great track. It makes me wonder if Richard maybe recorded some songs with Veronique and Akiko for possible inclusion on Time, but they were left in the vault. Unlike Karen's solo album, we really do not know that much about what Richard started for Time and then left off.

12. Voice Of The Heart - again, another album with material that should've appeared on earlier albums. Unfortunately, it starts off with the rather weak "Now", and "Make Believe It's Your First Time" is also pretty weak. However, the stand-out tracks are "Prime Time Love', "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore", "You're Enough" and "Sailing on The Tide".

13. Close To You - "Love Is Surrender", "Help", "I Kept On Loving You" and "Maybe It's You" are the stand-out tracks on this album. Otherwise the rest of the album is okay. "Baby It's You" I first heard on the 1978 Canadian The Carpenters Collection"

14. Carpenters - this one, like Close To You is uneven. Of course it's infamous for "Druscilla Penny" and that bass drum that sounded like the record needle was hitting a bad scratch. "Let Me Be The One" should've been released as single.

15. Live at The Palladium - I've only ever heard the LP of this, and not taking into account the difference between LP's and CD's, this album just never sounded as sharp as the Live In Japan album. The "Piano Picker/S'Wonderful/ Strike Up The Band/Fascinatin' Rhthym" followed by the "Warsaw Concerto" is an interesting part of the album.

16. A Kind Of Hush - hard to really say what's good about this album, as it's a sleeper album. "Can't Smile Without You", "A Kind of Hush", "Goofus", "Boat To Sail" and "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" are the stand-outs. "I Need To Be In Love" I've always been in the middle of the road about. And "Sandy"---should've been left in the vault. And how did "I Have You" manage to be a B-side twice on 45's?

17. Richard Carpenter's Songbook - I don't know, since both of Richard's instrumental albums sounded like they were recorded on very dark, overcast, rainy days and are both dreary, but when compared to Richard Clayderman's Carpenters albums, I prefer Clayderman's instrumentals, since he managed to infuse some pop into them and make the songs sound like they were recorded in the middle of a field on a bright, sunny day. It's nice to hear his instrumental take on "The Rainbow Connection".

18. Pianist, Arranger, Composer, Conductor - "All Those Years Ago" is interesting, although I wish Richard had used the vocals that Veronique had recorded, since otherwise there is not much to make the song stand-out. "Time" was of course the title track of his first solo album, and "Flat Baroque" has always been a classic of his from the early-70's. However, as I said, this album sounds like it was recorded during a period where it was very dark, overcast and rainy outside.

19. Horizon - I still consider "Happy" to be the best single on this album, since I first heard it on the Singles 1974-1978 album a few years before I heard it one here. "Please Mr. Postman" is also good, and "Desperado" is decent---unfortunately the rest of the album is flat and uninteresting and short. Were they trying to do a concept album with Horizon, since it falls flat.

20. Made In America - the stand-out tracks on this album are "Beechwood 4-5789", "(Want You) Back In My Life Again" and "Touch Me When We're Dancing" (I first heard WYBIMLA and TMWWD on the Yesterday Once More (1985) album and I thought that was what MIA would've sounded like, even though "Those Good Old Dreams" was the clunker of the three MIA tracks on that set; I first heard "Beechwood" on the Yesterday Once More (1985 VHS) set---which was odd as it wasn't on the corresponding album---although it had been on the 1984 Silver Eagle set). The rest of the album needed to be erased or shoved in a vault. Who made the decision that the majority of the album needed to have so many tracks that sounded like their failed 1978 single "I Believe You" (which surprisingly opens Side 2---I would've put "Beechwood" or WUBIMLA as the Side 2 opener, with the other as the Side 1 opener, or even TMWWD as the Side 1 opener, and IBY in a position that required less bandwidth, as "Beechwood" or TMWWD or WUBIMLA needed the band width on LP of the outer edge, whereas IBY doesn't need anywhere near that amount of bandwidth)? This was a mess of an album, and looking back in 2023, clearly the best tracks were left in the vault.
 
My order would be:

...

6. Lovelines - Some of Karen's Solo tracks show up here, and it makes you wonder why her solo album was shelved in 1980. They are some of the best tracks from that era. "Lovelines" is a great dance opener, along with "Remember When Loving Took All Night" and "If I Had You"---and Richard's remix of "If I Had You" makes it even better. But then we even have some great tracks from the MIA era that, again, why they were relegated to the vault, when the majority of MIA should've been in the vault, is highly questionable. "The Uninvited Guest" is a great Halloween tune, "Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night", "Honolulu City Lights" and "Slow Dance" are all great tracks. Unfortunately, the album ends on a rather weak track in "Little Girl Blue".

...
My favorite - on the strength of having the most number of songs I like. I'm a little surprised that in your assessment of it's contents you didn't mention at all 2 of her best recorded vocal performances ever: YOU'RE THE ONE and WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE? Nor do you mention IF WE TRY which is, in my not-so-humble opinion, the Solo Album's best track. KISS ME... and IF I HAD YOU are both delightful tunes (even if both are way over-produced). THE UNINVITED GUEST is a sad, but lovely, little gem of a song (Karen's rendition really makes us "feel the pain"), but I've never really understood the appeal of HONOLULU CITY LIGHTS. And as a big fan of the music of "The Great American Songbook" I enjoy greatly their take (her take) on WHEN I FALL... and LITTLE GIRL BLUE, a somewhat musically complex song by Rogers & Hart from the 30s, even though this version has too much reverb on Karen's vocal. SLOW DANCE is nice, but the other 2 songs from the Solo Album - LOVELINES and REMEMBER WHEN... - are, as far as I'm concerned, 2nd rate throwaway album fillers.
 
Mine would be, from favourite to least favourite (and just Carpenters studio albums):

1. A Song For You - the album that has everything, right down the album artwork. A perfect slice of bookended pop
2. Lovelines - incredibly homogeneous, Carpenters at their classiest
3. Offering - Richard and Karen at their most fun, naive and innocent
4. Made In America - a perfect slice of Californian summer pop
5. Passage - bold, ingenious and eclectic
6. Horizon - classy but sleepy (see #10)
7. Carpenters - peak of their fame, but way too short
8. Now & Then - fun, quirky and inventive but light on substance
9. Close To You - patchy “first fame” album but still a fun listen
10. A Kind Of Hush - less classy and even more sleepy
11. Voice Of The Heart - sad and dreary with a smattering of gems
 
My favorite - on the strength of having the most number of songs I like. I'm a little surprised that in your assessment of it's contents you didn't mention at all 2 of her best recorded vocal performances ever: YOU'RE THE ONE and WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE? Nor do you mention IF WE TRY which is, in my not-so-humble opinion, the Solo Album's best track. KISS ME... and IF I HAD YOU are both delightful tunes (even if both are way over-produced). THE UNINVITED GUEST is a sad, but lovely, little gem of a song (Karen's rendition really makes us "feel the pain"), but I've never really understood the appeal of HONOLULU CITY LIGHTS. And as a big fan of the music of "The Great American Songbook" I enjoy greatly their take (her take) on WHEN I FALL... and LITTLE GIRL BLUE, a somewhat musically complex song by Rogers & Hart from the 30s, even though this version has too much reverb on Karen's vocal. SLOW DANCE is nice, but the other 2 songs from the Solo Album - LOVELINES and REMEMBER WHEN... - are, as far as I'm concerned, 2nd rate throwaway album fillers.
“You’re The One” and “Where Do I Go From Here” are album fillers. YTO has never really stuck in my mind, so for me to really recall it I need to play it. And really if I can’t recall it then it’s not that great of a song. WDIGFH I do recall, however, it’s too much like “I Believe You” or “Strength of A Woman” or “Because We Are In Love”, and I’m glad they left it off MIA, since that would have been overloading and already slow, sleepy album with more filler, although it is probably the best of that type of song they recorded in 1981.

“If We Try”, doesn’t matter if it’s the solo mix or the remix, it was always the weakest and most forgettable song on Karen’s solo album.

“Little Girl Blue” is an okay song, however on “Lovelines” another track should have been used to close the album as LGB is a weak closer. Richard was probably thinking of how the LP would sound from a technical standpoint , since “If I Had You” would’ve been a good closer to bookend the album, however where it was placed, on the LP it has just enough bandwidth to breath and give a good playback sound, whereas any closer to the center and “If I Had You” would have been compromised from the smaller bandwidth. “When I Fall In Love” might’ve been a more powerful track to end on, and not needed as much bandwidth, while LGB could have been Side 1’s closer.
 
1 - Horizon (7/10) Sonically, this is their best album. Musically, too many ballads. "Desperado" and "Solitaire" should have hit the cutting room floor. Karen performs both of them well but they just drag. Uptempo tunes were in short supply here and both should have been replaced with them. "Love Me for What I Am" is absolutely gorgeous. Yeah, it's slow but Karen is a marvel here. I totally believe her. To his credit, Richard stays out of her way and lets her lead the way. The lyric is just devastatingly good. That final "I must be free" is just chilling. It's easily the best thing on the album and one of the best they ever recorded IMHO. "Only Yesterday" is overproduced but it's fun and, for a Carpenters record, it kinda grooves. The vocal arrangement is sublime. "Happy" is fun, though severely overrated in these parts. The synth lines Richard hates are fun to hear, I think. Karen's vocal is...Karen's vocal. Amazing during this time as usual. "I Can Dream, Can't I" is just further proof that they should have left the Pop charts behind and gone in this direction. Karen nails this vocal and she's utterly believable. The arrangement by Billy May is just gorgeous and the background vocalists used here are the perfect accent. I know "Postman" did well but I've never had any use for it. It's stiff as a board and not as much fun as they wanted me to believe it is.

2 - Made In America (1/10): Unmitigated disaster. Even the title is terrible. What an awful way to go out. Here, Richard asserts himself and decides he's the star. That was never gonna go well. Karen is just a cog in the machine on this one. Richard's production is entirely too over-the-top. Think Meatloaf without the yelling and long songs. Richard doesn't give us arrangements, he gives us orchestrations - even when they aren't appropriate. Richard doesn't choose good songs and when he does, he has no idea what works best for them. He certainly doesn't write anything good. The inclusion of Karen's overly-dramatic pablum "Because We Are In Love" is inconsequential elevator fare. The intro alone (complete with "mom, I'm afraid" ridiculousness) is unintentionally hilarious. This one boasts John Bettis' very worst lyric. He's going for "standard" and whiffs it badly. The similarly empty "Look To Your Dreams" with its banal verse lyric is every bit as bad too proving that Bettis should never go down that road and he should just stick to the Pop song form. "Somebody's Been Lyin'" is completely silly and everything else is too, really. "Want You Back in My Life Again" is the worst of the bunch and even though I now know there's a decent song in there, Richard proves he has no clue what to do with it. He adds synths and fake-sounding drums in order to sound current and the results are just awful. The vocal arrangement is the only thing that gets this over in the least bit. Heck, it's the only gift that didn't abandon him on this album. As has been said many times, the stuff that didn't make the record, elevator fare that all of it is, is far better than what made the record.

3 - Now & Then (5/10): Solid record until we get to the medley. I know why they did it but it interrupts the flow of decent tunes and it's just flat-out lazy. The tunes don't sound fun. If anything, it's all pretty stiff. The DJ thing is cute but not for repeated listening. "This Masquerade" is jazzier Carpenters and I am here for it. Richard's piano solo is just gorgeous and Bob's flute solo is too. Love the vocal arrangement throughout. Karen's vocal is just astounding. Richard's production stays out of the way (he hadn't begun to seriously overproduce yet) and Karen just shines.

4 - A Kind Of Hush (4/10): This is where they began their descent into elevator fare. Only "You" and "I Need to Be in Love" work. "Sandy" is nice too because of Karen's performance and the vocal arrangement. I even like their treatment of "Can't Smile...", though it's a little embalmed for my liking. The vocal arrangement, as usual, gets it over. "Goofus" was not a good idea and even less of a good idea as a single. It proved that their ability to choose singles had left them entirely and A&M should have chosen them all from that point forward. Heck, they likely should have kept this song off the album. A very quiet and down album.

5 - Passage (6/10): Finally! Carpenters having fun - albeit not totally knowing how to proceed. "B'wana" is fun but it's clear that Richard and Karen have no clue what the song means or they'd likely have steered clear of it. It's pretty mean-spirited and not the king of thing that's the least bit at home in Karen's mouth. This is more notable for the band (w/ Pete Jolly on piano and Tom Scott on sax) having fun than it is for Karen's vocal. It's basically the same thing as Michael Franks' own version. Also of note is that this is the only song in their catalog without a vocal arrangement by Richard. Here, vocal arranging genius Gene Puerling does it and it's gorgeous. The rest of the record is all over the place. "Man Smart..." is a direct copy of Robert Palmer's cover. It's even in the sam key. Like...why? They give us a decent groove with "All You Get..." even though it's got totally unnecessary orchestration and it's overproduced. The song is substantial enough that it can withstand Richard's heavy production hand. He really dives in on "Calling Occupants..." and the result is gonzo fun. The "Evita" nonsense is several steps too far but I almost admire the attempt. Richard has said he tried to get another producer for this one and I kinda wish he had succeeded (I kinda doubt he tried all that hard). This has no direction to speak of because they were utterly lost at sea. The album is rudderless but their flailing is fun.

6 - Carpenters (7/10): This is where we really see who they are. The singles are great and the filler is...there too. I never have use for a Richard lead and I don't here either. "Druscilla" is the kind of sniveling "you're not as cool as you think you are la la la" lyric you could imagine leaving the lips of a scornful 50-year old who must be a ball at parties. The whole thing is "bah da ba" bad. "Saturday" is filler too, though not as bad as "Druscilla." The vocal requires some level of ebullience and Richard just doesn't have the chops for that. It just ends up sounding kinda boring. The medley is "Vegas on demand" and it's fun. Richard thinks they took it too fast and I disagree. I think it works well at this speed. "Let Me Be the One" is the single that got missed. Not sure why they couldn't have had a fourth single.

7 - A Song For You (6/10): Their sense of humor surfaces in the intermission and I love it. Nice songs here. "It's Going to Take Some Time"'s flute solo is a thing of beauty. Love it when Carpenters head into jazzier territory. "Hurting" is VERY nice and Karen's vocal is just sublime. The choruses have the lift they need and they feel like the lyric does. "Goodbye" with it's Big Muff-assisted guitar solo was controversial at the time and it still stands up today. Amazing work from Tony Peluso. "Road Ode" is "We've Only Just Begun" sideways. The song about the woes of the road is a nice concept but the lyrics are too empty-headed to really get there. "Piano Picker"...happened. Let's just leave that there. "Crystal Lullaby" is the kind of elevator thing we'd get more of on later albums. Decent album for sure.

8 - Voice Of The Heart (5/10): If "Now" is indicative of where Carpenters were headed in 1983, they were headed for a bomb. "Now" is a Hallmark card set to elevator music - complete with bloodless chorus. The rest of the record is fleshed out by material from the vault. Some of it is pretty good. "Your Baby..." is decent if overproduced (by this point, everything was). Richard's take on "Make Believe..." is completely wrong. He overproduces and gives in to all his worst impulses - including the chorale. Bob James nailed this on her solo record and that's the only version I bother with. "Prime Time Love" is kind of fun if a little stiff. Richard's gift for vocal arranging never left him and even on the bleakest stuff here, its his vocal arrangements that save the day. "Sailing on the Tide" is fine, though it's easy to see why it stayed in the vault. Richard's vocal arrangement is fun and Karen seems to be having fun with it too. I mentioned "Look to Your Dreams" before so I'll spare mentioning it here. Not one of Bettis' better moments.

9 - Lovelines (8/10): This has all the stuff that should have comprised "Made in America." Richard's penchant for overproduction is all over this thing but thankfully, so are Karen's stellar vocals. Richard's remixing decisions on Karen's solo tunes are dead on each time. In stark contrast to their own tunes, Richard actually fixed what was wrong with Karen's tunes. His take on "If I Had You" is far superior to the solo mix. Love the way his ends. Elsewhere, the stuff that got left off MIA is really nice. "Kiss Me..." is a very nice tune, if overproduced. Karen sounds great and Siedah Garrett does too. "The Uninvited Guest" is nice too until the chorale blunders in. They strip out all the intimacy with their anonymous backing and it goes straight into the elevator. "You're the One" has one of Karen's loveliest vocals but the lyric is really weak if you listen to it. Karen makes more of it than it actually is and Richard's production is, in this rare instance, dead on. "When I Fall in Love" is nice and I love that they included the verse. Few ever include it and it's a really nice verse lyric performed perfectly by Karen. We should have gotten albums full of this stuff from them. If only they'd have left Pop music behind when they should have...

10 - Close To You (6/10): They were still kind of playing around with who they'd be on this record. It's the last time we got anything remotely tethered to Rock ("Help"). "Another Song" is a bizarre pastiche of things but it does sound edgy and alive. Of course, the hits were gargantuan. "We've Only Just Begun" and "They Long to Be Close to You" were both just made for them. Richard gives us his one passable vocal on "I Kept on Loving You." His leads should have begun and ended here. It's the only time he ever sounded like he cared ("the road was long and wide / I had to try it" feels lived in, even if it likely wasn't). "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" is another standout that Karen makes sound amazing. "Mr. Guder" is all rebellious in the most elevator-y way possible. See? You can sound square and snide at the same time!

11 - Offering/Ticket To Ride (7/10): This thing is truly all over the place. They didn't know what to do...so they did everything. I like the gonzo-ness of the whole thing. They give you Buffalo Springfield, they give you Jazz tempos, they give you sweet balladry, and they even give you Sunshine Pop. It's total madness and it's fun. Only Richard could have decided that "Ticket to Ride" would make a nice ballad. Amazingly effective idea and Karen is there to seal the deal as only she could. Not everything works but even the stuff that doesn't is interesting. Way too many Richard leads - no need to equity when you have KAREN CARPENTER around. She should have sung everything they ever did. Richard had ZERO business singing when she was around to do it.
 
“You’re The One” and “Where Do I Go From Here” are album fillers. YTO has never really stuck in my mind, so for me to really recall it I need to play it. And really if I can’t recall it then it’s not that great of a song.

To say “You’re The One” is filler material does it a disservice really. You have to divorce yourself from the fact that Richard was scoring own goal after own goal by this point as producer of hit single material and just focus on the lead vocal. Technically, and emotionally, it’s one of the most ambitious things Karen ever committed to tape. Try singing it - lower the key if you have to. The quality of her vocal was never better - and by that I include songs like “Superstar”. This is on another level. The fact it’s not commercial enough to be a single is neither here nor there.
 
To say “You’re The One” is filler material does it a disservice really. You have to divorce yourself from the fact that Richard was scoring own goal after own goal by this point as producer of hit single material and just focus on the lead vocal. Technically, and emotionally, it’s one of the most ambitious things Karen ever committed to tape. Try singing it - lower the key if you have to. The quality of her vocal was never better - and by that I include songs like “Superstar”. This is on another level. The fact it’s not commercial enough to be a single is neither here nor there.
Sorry but it was a horrible song, even on the vocals. It was just album filler, and was one of those songs that rightfully went into the vault. I first heard it on the Canadian version of Interpretations and even on there it was a disappointment since it just took up space. On Interpretations Your Baby Doesn’t Love You Anymore or Breaking Up Is Hard To Do or I Just Fall In Love Again should have replaced it.
 
The only thing I don't like about "You're The One" is Richard's piano-key-pounding at the opening of the song. It probably would have been better with a lighter touch there. That first chord even seems either just a tad up-cut, or Richard hurried the next note. Other than that, Karen sings it well, though it's not a favorite. Fits well on LOVELINES though.

(Trivia: "You're The One" is alphabetically the last Carpenters song in their canon, assuming that the punctuation comes after letters.)
 
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